Improvement in buckwheat-hulling apparatus



G. s. ORANSON. Buokwheat-Hulling Apparatus. 1 Patented July 15, 1879*.

UNITED TAT E S ion.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUCKWHEAT-HULLING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 217,513, dated July 15,1879; application filed March 29, 1879.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GILns S. GRANSON, of the city of Syracuse, in theState of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inMachinery for Hulling or Shucking Buckwheat, of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear,and exact description.

The purpose of this invention is to expeditiously and effectually removefrom the grains of buckwheat their hulls or external shells with theleast possible loss of the meats or kernels preparatory'to theconverting of same into flour.

The invention consistsin the peculiar construction, combination, andarrangement of a set or pair of revolving cylinders, hereinafter fullydescribed, and specifically designated by the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side view of my invention,provided with appliances for separating the clean meats from the removedhulls or shucks. Fi 2 is aplan view of same 5 and Fig. 3, an enlargedtrans verse section of the cylinders, which constitute the principalelements of my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

R R represent two cylinders, designed to accomplish the object sought inthis invention. They are arranged horizontal and parallel side by side,and are journaled at their ends in suitable hearings on a frame, A. Theconvex surface of the said cylinders is provided with grooves formed ofan abrupt side, a, and a beveled side, I), the latter terminating at theface of the cylinder with what in a millstonedress is termeda trailingor feather edge. These grooves are arranged parallel to the axis of thecylinder, and with a narrow strip, 0, of the face of the cylinderbetween them.

The cylinders are revolved oppositely, with the upper halves of theirperipheries toward each other, and at unequal velocities, bydifferential gears or pulleys p p, or other means of transmittingmotion, which impart an accelerated velocity of revolution to thatcylinder which has the back or deepest part of its upper grooves nearestits fellow cylinder.

The cylinders are arranged near, but not in contact with, each other,the distance between the cylinders being made adjustable by securing thejournal-boxes of one or both cylinders laterally between set-screws orkeys is k, as illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings.

Numerous and various experiments have developed the fact that thepeculiar shape of the grain of buckwheat and the fragility of its hullor shuck debar the use of a concave opposing surface in connection withthe convex surface of a horizontal revolving grooved or serratedcylinder, inasmuch as such arrangement does not impart to the grain therequisite rolling motion in the feed of the machine, and forms a wedgingfeed, which subjects the shucks to excessive abrasion and crushin Hencesuch devices are not contemplated in this invention.

By my invention, already fully described, the grain of buckwheat iscaused to roll to the feed of the machine and subjected to only onequick pinch, with a slight abrasion, and is then immediately released,which is the only action that will successfully accomplish the objectsought in this invention. The shucks or hulls, being preserved asaforesaid, are readily separated from the meats by screens, fans, orother common appliances, a simple and effective arrangement of which isrepresented in the accompanying drawings, in the form of a doublevibratory screen, (1, located beneath the cylinders, which screencarries the coarse shucks out at its end, and allows the meats to passthrough its meshes onto a finer screen directly beneath and integralwith it. The substances separated by the latter screen are conveyed,respectively, to separate spouts, where, by the suction of anexhaust-fan, all light impurities are carried off, leaving all theflour-yielding portion in a pure and granulated state.

Having described my invention, what I-claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s-

The machine for hulling buckwheat, consisting of a set or pair ofcylinders. having their respective convex surfaces provided with groovesformed of an abrupt side, a, and a beveled side, I), and with plainfaces 0 between said grooves, all arranged parallel to the axis of thecylinders and disposed alike in In testimony whereof I have hereunto sethoth'cylinders, and geared to revolve in opmy hand this 26th day ofMarch, 1879.

posite directions toward each other, and with an accelerated speed ofthat cylinder which GILES S. ORANSON. has the back or deepest part ofthe grooves of the upper half of the periphery nearest the Witnesses:opposing cylinder, all constructed and 00111- G. BENDIXEN,

bined to operate substantially as described A. WOOD. and shown, for thepurpose set forth.

